Worry (Warriors 83, Jazz 80)

W.R. Inge once described worry as “interest paid on trouble before it comes due.” When Stephen Curry disappeared into the locker room 12 minutes into his 2012-13 season, Warriors fans had good reason to worry. Speculation over the point guard’s ankles overshadowed the Warriors 83-80 win over the Jazz, and will continue to be the dominant story of the season until Curry proves he can stay on the court. While the post-game reports of ankle soreness aren’t cause for panic — lots of NBA players manage soreness in their surgically repaired joints — Warriors fans may just be cringing in anticipation of trouble not yet come due.

The Warriors’ caution with Stephen Curry is understandable on one level — they watched him go down repeatedly last season as he tried to tough his way through ankle and foot problems. But on the other hand, without a clear diagnosis for what exactly went wrong with Curry’s ankles and feet last year, it’s not clear that keeping him off the court for his first preseason game and three-fourths of his second is protecting him from anything. The soreness Curry felt might be a sign of future problems — or it could just be a natural side effect of playing competitive basketball for the first time in nearly nine months. Hopefully the soreness was from the latter cause and Curry will regain faith in his body the more he plays and survives. The preseason should give him an opportunity to play himself back into shape, both physically and mentally. The worst scenario for the Warriors — short of another Curry injury — would be entering the season not knowing on any given night or even quarter whether Curry will be able to go. He needs to use preseason to play his way through this uncertainty.

But apart from the Curry drama, the Warriors fans in attendance for the team’s first home preseason game were treated to some encouraging performances. While the minutes were high for starters, this game was as much a sales pitch to fans (many in the building on free tickets) as it was a chance to test out bubble players. I expect their minutes to be lower on Thursday and for the remaining preseason road games. Additionally, with Kent Bazemore looking good in his Sunday debut, the roster of 15 may already be set. That lack of training camp roster-juggling should allow the Warriors to focus more on building chemistry and settling rotations than figuring out who makes the final cuts.

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The Warriors went 12 deep into the rotation. I’ll do the same for my first in-person recap of the year:

Stephen Curry — While the ink spilled over Curry on Tuesday will concern what happened on the bench and locker room, his minutes on the court were encouraging. He did a great job getting others involved in the offense on a series of well-executed plays resulting in easy buckets. He commanded the offense instead of simply waiting for things to develop. On defense, he looked a little slow laterally — potentially a conditioning issue and hopefully not an ankle-trust or soreness issue — but generally worked hard to stay in front of his man.

Festus Ezeli — Andrew Bogut might have taught the Warriors rookie a few tricks. When the Warriors secured Ezeli with the last pick in the first round, this is precisely the type of physical, defensively-focused game they hoped to get from him. He banged all night against the Jazz’s strong and large front line. He swatted away a few shots with perfectly timed blocks and changed quite a few other shots. It felt like he got more than 7 rebounds — probably because David Lee and others benefitted from some of Ezeli’s space clearing box outs. He even showed nice hands on the offensive end, scoring off a couple of pinpoint passes. If Ezeli can keep this up, Biedrins may not be looking at just a demotion in the depth chart, but a trip to the inactive list.

Harrison Barnes — I didn’t see enough of Barnes in college or the summer league to be able to pick out whether he’s added new elements to his game, but one change is obvious. Barnes has added some serious muscle since June, and was willing to use it Monday night against Utah. He exploded to the basket and threw down two dunks in traffic. He bounced off a few bodies on other interior attempts, getting good looks on all of them. We haven’t seen evidence of a consistent mid-range shot yet over the first two games, but Barnes has demonstrated that he won’t need to depend on jumpers to make a difference on offense. His aggressiveness is tremendously encouraging. On defense, Barnes didn’t command attention and respect like Ezeli, but he also didn’t make any boneheaded rookie errors. He carries himself with maturity when he’s on the court. Jackson may have a hard choice to make on the small forward starter in a few weeks if Barnes keeps up this level of play.

Brandon Rush — Not to be outdone by the rookie, Rush had a characteristically efficient game. His points weren’t particularly flashy, but they game on a variety of busted plays and scrambling situations where he functioned as the final safety valve, a steady hand ready to knock down a shot. I think Rush’s best spot ultimately will be coming off the bench — not because he couldn’t start, but because his consistency is particularly important with the second unit. Rush is going to have some big nights this season at the expense of second-string forwards and guards who lose track of him.

Charles Jenkins — The forgotten man of the Warriors’ camp put up a performance to remember during the second half of Monday’s game. With Curry’s (hopeful) return and Jack’s addition, it’s unclear what role the Warriors will find for Jenkins. But rather than worrying about that, the sophomore point guard is simply making himself difficult to keep off the court. He’s done an excellent job running the offense two nights in a row. Against the Jazz, he also picked up with his mid-range jumper where he left off last season — draining them at an eye-popping rate. He still needs to find a way to use his strength to get to the rim or the line, and he’ll have a hard time against taller opponents, but so far in this young season Jenkins looks like the quintessential all-around utility guard.

David Lee — He logged 36 minutes and dropped some impressive numbers, but it was a typical David Lee game where the numbers didn’t tell the whole story. He played his best on offense facing the basket, but made some bad decisions when pulling up from the perimeter. He was active in scrapping for possessions, but also sloppy with the ball himself several times. His defense against the Jazz front line was good enough, but it wasn’t until Ezeli asserted himself that the Jazz fully retreated out of the paint. It’s nearly a cliche at this point that Lee will benefit from having better players around him, but he also needs to adapt his game to compliment those better players. Lee’s 2012-13 season needs to be about having a positive impact on the game, not just loading up the box score with big numbers.

Carl Landry — The Warriors’ back-up power forward gave, in 25 minutes, a perfect summation of the best and worst parts of his game. He scored four out of four times from the paint, including on a couple of high-degree-of-difficulty moves. He missed all five of his shots outside of the paint, and three of his four second half shots were from the perimeter. He did a nice job rebounding, but struggled to get to the glass and on defense when the Jazz rolled out their biggest and toughest front line (Favors and Kanter). With discipline and the right match-ups, Landry should be a revelation for the Warriors. He just needs to stay focused on what he does best, and Jackson needs to put him in a position to succeed when it gomes to match-ups.

Klay Thompson — Like Landry, Thompson possesses tremendous potential, but needs to show some focus to maximize it. Thompson’s 5-14 shooting was almost entirely from the perimeter. He didn’t show the same aggressiveness getting to the basket that he used in the first half of the Lakers game to establish himself in the flow of the game. He also didn’t show the same aggressiveness running around screens that he did last season. On the few times he did curl around a pick, he nailed the shot. But far too often Thompson seemed content to float on the perimeter and step into a long-range bomb. He’ll hit many of them, but he’s a better player than that. The coaching staff needs to make sure that Thompson doesn’t settle for having a game that’s “good enough” instead of “great.”

Richard Jefferson — A quiet, passive night from the veteran forward. I get the sense Jackson may be experimenting with Jefferson in different situations and mixes of players to see if one set clicks. So far it hasn’t, and Jefferson should start the season as the number three option at small forward. There will be stumbles along the way for Barnes, so Jefferson should still log some minutes this season, but I expect his most important role to be as a mentor in the locker room rather than as a difference-maker on the court.

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Jarrett Jack — It was another disconnected, disappointing performance for the Warriors’ back-up point guard and primary Curry insurance policy. Over the first two games, he hasn’t shown either the savvy point-guard play or consistent shooting-guard scoring he’s delivered the past few years. He may just be playing himself into shape or struggling to get used to new teammates, but so far things haven’t quite clicked. I’ll be curious to see if he has a breakout game over the next few preseason outings or if he starts the regular season in this mini-funk. Given the way Jenkins has been playing, Jack could start losing minutes to him if he’s not more productive.

Jeremy Tyler — He outplayed Andris Biedrins. That’s about the best thing you can say for Tyler. He still looks soft and passive at both ends of the court. He will benefit from some time in Santa Cruz, but I worry the issues holding Tyler back aren’t the kind the D-League can fix. He’s still young enough to turn the corner and earn a place in the NBA, but he won’t be given an indefinite chance to prove himself.

Andris Biedrins — In the world of impressive sports statistics, Andris Biedrins exists at the polar opposite end from the San Francisco 49ers of the past two weekends. When will Biedrins score his first basket of the season? Will he hit a free throw his year? How about securing a rebound before Halloween? His box scores are jokes that are getting old fast. His performance is best summed up with a DNP, regardless of whether he sets foot on the court.

The Warriors 2-0 preseason record means nothing, no matter how much Mark Jackson tries to imbue it with meaning (or how often we’re reminded of it in the Warriors’ next televised game). What does matter is the way the Warriors are playing in the first 96 minutes of their season. They’re unselfishly moving the ball on offense and scoring in a newfound variety of ways. They’re playing honest, even physical, defense that doesn’t rest on gimmicks or gambles. There’s plenty of work to be done and uncertainty swirling around the injured players, but the big picture is uncharacteristically reassuring. With the Warriors looking like a well-rounded and deep team for the first time in ages, there’s a lot less to worry about.

It seems our pubescent troll has brought the overall average age of the blog down. :))

Hammertime

Adam & C, congratulations. You’re both clearly very lucky. And thanks for stopping by C. The humanity of this blog is one of its strengths.

Happily married for 8 years,
Hammertime

murinur

Fro sartre link @101

Reserve center Andris Biedrins missed his second consecutive practice with right groin tightness and isn’t expected to play Thursday. “We don’t have time to stop for anybody,” Jackson said. “We’re going to keep it moving.”

More imporantly C…what did you think of Curry’s assist to TO ratio the other night?

First his Ma now his financee backing Adam’s Dub passion…lucky man I’d say.

earl monroe

Cohan, thanks for the compliment, yes I consider myself creative and a positive thinker. as believe very well put it, we can be optimistic or pessimistic, I choose optimism, I choose to believe in Steph Curry both as a person and a basketball player, not for one second do I believe he is a perfect player, but I like his dynamism, point guard is a difficult position to play specially at the NBA level, I choose to believe that the Warrior organization is working hard to put a good product on the floor, I don’t believe in criticizing every positive comment made here regarding Steph Curry, or the organization, the Cohan era is over, signing Curry may not be without risk, but that is the call of the owner and team on wether to invest.

If you hate LIARS you should look in the mirror. I have nothing to prove, your posts state my case very eloquently.

Regarding my family, they thought me well enough to support my ideas with coherent thought, and by the way, it would take a way bigger person than yourself to make me feel cornered.

Cohan- that sounds more like jealousy than anything else. I remember how you welcomed Curry to the Warriors before he even played one minute. You called him names, questioned his manhood. It all sounds like jealousy to me.

You haven’ prove that I’ve said this —

“You called him names, questioned his manhood. ”

You Mister earl monroe’ whoever you are is a poison to this society and to your family by espousing lies as your cover.

I like this winning attitude. Love Bogut’s intensity and no-nonesense approach. RJefferson at least brought his experience and professionalism from Spurs and he can still play a bit.

Finally “real pros” instead of BD, SJ, AH, JC or some sorts.

Our Team

C….We here on the Fast Break Blog salute you! Congratulations and many fun years together watching Warriors’ basketball. (We could never have said that before this year.) We also salute your good timing– Adam will be in a much better mood for the next few years.

sartre

Thanks for the link bryhsiao.

I liked Jack with the dubs before the cancer version manifested itself. Trading him to the Spurs came at a cost for the franchise in terms of flexibility. He is an expiring contract this upcoming season and still represents more on-court value than Jefferson (as long as he accepts a limited role as he currently does with his elite coach, fellow senior teammates, and organization). On the other hand, the dubs would not have Ezeli as he was unlikely to have fallen much further in the draft. And Jack is not the senior role model you want in the locker room or drawing attention to himself over the team in the media.

JanG

I predicted a week ago that AB would be on IR for much of the season. Get used to it. Either his pride in being demoted to 3rd string or in the FO asking him to ‘take’ an injury for the team, either way, he’s collecting his paycheck and nothing else. The writing is on the wall. What a waste of money, height, and a roster spot!

I for one is losing my better perspective on him but who knows? I still believe on Beans ‘coming back’ 8)

CallMeCohan

Sorry for this long entry but I can’t help treading a dead tract and hold the dog on its ears:

Slimman says:
August 22nd, 2012 at 10:18 pm

………………..

JSL @ #38 – I also am in complete agreement. Signing Curry to a less than max extension now is a good calculated risk. He is a top ten PG when playing with Ellis and playing injured, all the while while improving. Unless he breaks his ankle in pre-season extend the kid.

believewhat says:
August 23rd, 2012 at 1:12 pm

jsl,

“Not sure I get the logic. If he gets thru training camp well, and we can extend four years at something close to $10MM a pop, I’d do that in a hearbeat. Sure, it’s a risk; but there’s always a risk. And if he plays as we hope his salary — and cap hit — almost doubles.”

I am almost sure that Dubs will offer him an extension contract. The question is for how much ? I think we can extend him for 8-9 mils range for 4 years, no brainer. For 10-11 mils, I would still do it if it is for shorter term like for 3 years.

What are you trying to imply??

believewhat says:
August 24th, 2012 at 11:37 am

Matt also touched upon Curry extension in his article. After thinking hard(:-) ), I would offer following non negotiable extension options for Curry.

2 years 24 mils(contract will expire same time as Bogut, best option for dubs, IMO, risk only for two years, might have lux tax implications)
3 years 30 mils(equal pros and cons for both Curry and Dubs, IMO)
4 years 36 mils(I will take this if I am Curry)

If he doesn’t take any of the above, he will risk entering to a market even if injury free season, his class has lot of PGs that will be extending too.

Let me know guys your thoughts.

believewhat says:
September 5th, 2012 at 11:05 am

Regarding extension to Curry. If he proves healthy during camp and pre season, I can guarantee you that he will get an extension offer around 10 mils(9-11) range. If he doesn’t prove health, he might still get an extension offer, a low ball offer which Curry would then reject, IMO.

Yay!!

believewhat,

You seem so nice but I don’t agree with you to passed off your challenge.

Indulge yourself.

Slimman

Dump the personal pissing matches already, are you guys 12 years old? Nobody wants to read this crap. This blog is about the Golden State Warriors, not you.

On a brighter note – Congrats Adam!

JanG

Just when I thought the culture has changed with this organization, it came as no surprise to me that some bloggers here continue to spout their devisive and antagonistist posts.

On another completely different subject, it appears our own Monta is not expected to remain a Buck and will test free agency. Could still stay there but doubt it. Can you imagine how this would have impacted the team this year if he was still a W and there was a possibility of losing him at the end of the season with nothing to show for it? If you can’t imagine, just ask Nugget and Magic fans.

While I liked Monta, the focus on his impending FA would have doomed this season, not to mention going into camp without a real center. And don’t you think the FO knew this all along.

Marriage is a good thing…have had three and don’t regret any of them. Adam is a lucky man as well as a perceptive judge of talent, whether basketball and feminine.

El Topo

About Barnes:

Living in NC, I watched quite a few NC games and was unimpressed by Harrison’s soph season and his poor performances in the NCAA tournament. His teammate McAdoo seemed more talented and will be a top pick next year. As for Ezeli, I’m not surprised he’s better than Fab Melo, who never looked good in any games I saw. Glad we didn’t go for him.

I would have taken Royce White and Kevin Jones instead of Barnes and Ezeli, but will be more than happy to be wrong (won’t be the first time).

BTW, another unimpressive (to me) guy was Tyler Zeller (his brother Cod is better) and I wouldn’t be surprised if Festus ends being the better pro.

Believewhat

Cohan,

Those offers are not max offers. If Curry proves health, like any NBA team, dubs will offer contract extension. Given that, these are my guesses and opinions. For me, dubs first then players.

specialolympics

Let’s see a show of hands…

Ban CallMeCohan from the blog?

Yes or No.

earl monroe

No need to ban young blood he just needs to come up with new material other than, Chris Cohan and Steph Curry bashing.

deano

I wonder if MJack will play Tyler more tonight than he did in the previous two games. I hope not. Extra minutes against a former team should not be automatic. Instead, it should be an honor and reward given to a deserving player. Tyler is not due any honors or rewards. He deserves no more than the DLeague.

“Bol Bol is a seventh-grader in Kansas and already stands a lanky 6-foot-5. As you can see in the video above, the middle schooler already bears a stunning resemblance to his father, too, with extremely long and slender appendages that sometimes seem to be held together by mere rubber bands rather than flesh and bone”

Son of Ahmed

Glad the season is coming up. Nice analysis Adam, though I do not hold out the same optimism for Festus that you and the others here do.

Anyway, best line in your write-up was this one:

“The Warriors 2-0 preseason record means nothing, no matter how much Mark Jackson tries to imbue it with meaning (or how often we’re reminded of it in the Warriors’ next televised game).”

Again, WHY isn’t Greg Papa the television voice of the Warriors?

deano

BW: Tyler left high school to play for Haifa. It did not go well for him there. He quit.

believewhat

thanks deano for the info. I hope Tyler gets chance though to play in pre season. With team not counting on AB at all, Tyler is the only option to play backup C. Ofcourse, Jax like to play DLee at C and outscore opponents, a bad strategy if done for more than short stretches.

sartre

SoA, what’s not to like about a big body rookie center able to more immediately help on defense? The pre-season record means nothing but the quality of and improvement across these games in performance does. There has been early cause for encouragement that this will be a competitive team.

deano

BW: I have little faith in either Tyler or Beans. I wonder if Draymond Green could play center, just to keep Lee at PF. It’s too bad that he’s been hurt.

AB — the worthless scum he’s become — keeps digging himself deeper and deeper into the oblivion hole.

A totally worthless POS — and just two years removed from the time that he had the highest lifetime shooting percentage in NBA history — over 62%, as I recall. Then, pockets stuffed with money, he became the NBA’s signature coward.

Wonder if Lacob is ready yet to admit he screwed the pooch on his amnesty boondoggle — or whether he STILL believes this joker is worth something.

Regardless, since the “groin” has suddenly returned yet again — after further nauseating performances in the pre-season — IR him or send him to Santa Cruz forever; he’s obviously too much of a wimp — and thief — to address a buyout.

sartre

Man, the tension following the Giants game is unbearable.

El Topo

Giants win!!! What a game…very tense…my heart rate was way up that last inning. Buster justifies his MVP.

Bay Bridge world series still possible, like in 1989. Go A’s! A’s winning tonight would be even more astounding than Giants win…A’s have to beat Verlander instead Latos, a harder task, and with a weaker lineup.

El Topo

Santa Cruz full of banana slugs…one more would be no problem. AB belongs there.

believewhat

Buster Posey IS MVP !!

RickP

I like the off season moves. The news on Curry’s ankle is pretty good so far. I don’t quite know what to make of Bogut’s situation, but, thus far, Bogut has been a straight shooter about the ankle, so I’m hopeful there too. In fact, I’m generally optimistic.

I am as irritated as everbody by Biedrins. I can’t recall a reporter sticking a mic in his face and asking him why he has deteriorated. Has that happened? What did he say?

If Bogut isn’t ready, the W’s have a problem at 5. Festus looks like a great pick, but even if he’s destined to be the next Hakeem, there is a learning curve. I expect nothing from Tyler. I heard a recent interview with Tyler talking about recently finding out that he doesn’t know everything. Very unimpressive. I don’t think he will ever mature enough to make it in the NBA. I’d rather see a CBA guy try, than have to watch Lee play 5.

deano

RickP, El T, JSL: I am with you on Tyler and Beans. They do not belong on the 12 man roster. They belong in the DLeague and on IR, respectively, for the entire season. Remove their faces, and the stench of their failure, from the building. The FO was very good last summer in finding unwanted talent (McGuire, Gladness). It’s time for them to look once more for a scap heap center (but please, NOT Mikki Moore again).

El Topo

Tyler, unlike Biedrins, is not a true bust…since he never was anything. The FO paid some money to get the pick that is Tyler. So all W’s lost here is some gambling money (investment?). It looks like Tyler might not work out, but we gave up only a small amount of money and a small amount of cap space.

I thought it was a good gamble, but you never win them all.

But I’m with you Deano…almost any D-League center would be an improvement over Biedrins. At least way better in the FT department.

El Topo

There are some who still think AB might revive and become an adequate backup.

All I can say, as a former AB supporter, is: You’re way too optimistic.

His only plus is that he will be an expiring next year (or has he already expired? Hard to discern).

Eric

How can you guys sit there and lump Tyler’s name with Biedrins. Two way different scenarios. Tyler has not even logged 100 minute of NBA gametime and is young. He has a pertially guaranteed contract, so he is gonna be here.

I am not saying I even like the kid, but to be so quick with the trigger-finger is obscene.

The bloggers here need as much of a culture change as the team is continually experiencing as we speak.

In short, settle down….

believewhat

I have not given up yet on Tyler 🙂 But I gave up on AB after being an avid supporter of his resurrection. Amazing, I thought I supported him for too long and that was two years back 🙂

Eric

Btw, I realize Tyler played about 10 mins a game last year, so the 100 minutes was more of a figure of speech for those who feel the need to be exact.

He did average 4 points and 3 rebounds respectively, which isn’t setting the world on fire, but give the kid a chance for pete’s sake.

I am with you in regards to Beans, Believe. I have washed him from my mind. Right around 10 games into the season last year and I was D.O.N.E. , done.

I have to believe that he was a product of the “We Believe” team, and that almost any 7-footer that can run the floor would have flourished in that charmed season.

Eric

This team could very well be 21-10 going into the New Year. Just gotta take care of some medicore teams on the road.

I know that saying alot considering the way the road has been in recent seasons.

Slimman

In a Grantland piece on James Harden Bill Simmons advocates the Zombie-Sonics trying to trade him for Klay Thompson. Rookie contract vs. max contract for about the same production? Not happening. Lacob has stars in his eyes for sure, but that would be a dumb move.

Looks like Steph Curry is refashioning himself as Chris Paul judging by all the assists, including a lob-city combo with Ezeli, he is producing.

I yiyi yi

Sartre, Is there a video link? Can you get all the games in NZ?

sartre

I yiyi yi, apparently there is no video or audio feed for the game with the possible exception of nba.com tv which I don’t subscribe to. I’m going on the play-by-play and the half time video highlights. The nba generates little interest here (some passing interest during the finals) so the chance of a pre-season game being televised is zero.